Monday, 27 June 2016

I
voted to remain in the EU Referendum. I am a firm believer in the
idea that together the EU, as a group of countries, has a strong
global economic voice and that the union has allowed a shattered
post-war continent to rebuild. Like most outside the political
system, I was disappointed but not necessarily shocked by the
referendum result. It has been impossible to ignore the recent
growing disparity of wealth across Europe as a whole. A political
system which only favours the elite and turns its back on the people the
system was designed to help is bound to be on a collision course with disaster.
Thank goodness this was only a bloody vote and not a bloody
revolution.

In
the UK it has been increasingly clear the huge wealth generated by
the capital has not led to the regeneration of the post-industrial
north or the rural south and east and frustrating to see a political
ideology not addressing this but instead pushing austerity to the
limits of social tolerance. In less than a generation we have shifted
home ownership and job/pension security beyond the reach of the
majority and seem to be in the process of removing state education
and access to national healthcare. That this EU referendum became
about giving the political system a bloody nose shows the level of
disconnect between politics and the people. It is a sentiment
Brussels should not ignore.

Partisan
European Politics

'Is
it time 2 automate global political treaties in order 2 remove
partisan human response & compute best rational outcomes 4 next
generation'

I
was surprised to see the extraordinarily partisan approach of the EU
commission in trying to force our government to trigger article 50 as
a response to the Brexit vote. We are the fifth largest economy in
the world and the second largest in the EU. This is an economic union
we have decided, democratically as a country, not to be working in
our favour and, as such, our government will be expected to carefully
and with the full co-operation of the EU over the next few years,
follow the legal frameworks laid out for an exit. It will be a
complex set of negotiations to find the best result for all
concerned, to limit trade damage and to make sure Europe will still
benefit from having the fifth largest economy on its doorstep. It is
not a quickie divorce.

New
day, new European alliances...

'What
new #EuroGlobalforum
will the UK build as the EU looks as though it will ignore this
referendum warning for reform & who will join us?'

After
the PM's resignation and a weekend of political vacuum in which the
Chancellor was nowhere to be seen, no clear successor anointed, the
opposition staging a slow coup, Scotland, Northern Ireland and London
talking of breaking up the UK, we were all left wondering who will
step up and say... well anything...

Two
trillion and counting...

Interestingly
the #Brexit vote has effectively wiped out some of the trillions
pumped in by quantitative easing measures across the global stock
markets. Will a moderate rise in interest rates and a flattening of
excesses between currencies help to curb excessive gambles and start
to even out a volatile market ?

The
rise of the Moderates

One
thing for sure, this vote and the campaigns preceding it, have been
divisive, negative and laid bare the political infighting and
intrigue of party politics where winning, whatever the cost, is the
goal. Yet it seems, if you read the press we are now all going to be
losers, with a punitive budget, despite the Bank of England having
planned for this event with several billion stashed up its sleeve.
What is increasingly clear is the probable need for another election
as the face of both the main political parties is moved radically
beyond what was voted for only a year ago.

I
hope the rise of a more moderate approach within the EU will be the
ultimate outcome of Britain's exit. You have only to look at the
treatment of Greece and the plight of the refugees to see how very
unbalanced and inward-looking the system has become. I hope moderate
views prevail in the UK too and the individual nations can see the
break up of the UK was not what people were voting for last Thursday.
And I hope America takes a good, long hard look at its own Union of
States and realises, in the cold light of a Monday morning just what
could be at stake with its own, very partisan election.